asked the Minister for Lands if he will state separately in respect of each of the County Dublin and Wicklow forests the average bonus earnings per hour recorded in each month of 1959 to date.
Written Answers. - Dublin and Wicklow Forests: Bonus Earnings.
61.
I regret to inform the Deputy that figures of monthly variation in bonus earnings at each individual Forest are not produced in the normal course of control and supervision of the operation of the Incentive Bonus Scheme and with the expansion of the application of the Scheme their production would entail appreciable work. Such figures would not in themselves be adequate to indicate the true effectiveness of the Incentive Bonus Scheme since such factors as wet weather also have a bearing on the level of bonus earnings and can cause periodic fluctuations in bonus earnings at a particular Forest even where productivity is constant or steadily climbing. A cautious approach by the workers to securing the benefits of an Incentive Bonus Scheme also commonly operates in the early stages of application and can affect the true productivity level from week to week. I consider therefore that no useful purpose would be served by the production and publication of monthly bonus earnings figures for each Forest.
Average earnings figures for all Forests are more easily furnished and give a truer picture of the progressive success of the Scheme. The following are figures for each month of 1959.
|
Month of 1959 |
Average bonus earned per hour |
|
January |
5½d. |
|
February |
6½d. |
|
March |
6d. |
|
April |
6½d. |
|
May |
6½d. |
|
June |
7d. |
|
July |
7d. |
|
August |
7d. |
|
September |
7d. |